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Life

Seraphim has studied Economics and Theology and received a license to practise law. He was tonsured a monk at the Holy Monastery of Pentelis and was elevated to deacon and presbyter by Archbishop Seraphim of Athens in 1980.

In December 2000, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, and the Holy Synod, elected him as Bishop and assistant to His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos (Harkianakis) of Australia. He was responsible for the Third Archdiocesan district of South Australia and the Northern Territory serving until 2002.

In 2010 he asked Queen Elizabeth II to divest pop singer Sir Elton John of his knighthood for uttering blasphemy. The metropolitan sent a letter to Queen Elizabeth II and the British Ambassador to Greece after Elton John said that Christ was a homosexual.[note 1]

In December 2010 he made remarks in a televised interview which are anti-semitic. Among the 'unconventional' opinions he expressed, he stated that international Zionism tries to destroy family values by promoting one-parent families and same-sex marriages, and said there is a Zionist conspiracy to enslave Greece and Christian Orthodoxy. He also stated that "Adolf Hitler was an instrument of world Zionism and was financed from the renowned Rothschild family with the sole purpose of convincing the Jews to leave the shores of Europe and go to Israel to establish the new Empire." He also expressed the belief that Jewish bankers like "Rockefeller, Rothschild and Soros control the international banking system that controls globalization."[note 2] Subsequently, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, while not mentioning Metropolitan Seraphim by name, condemned anti-Semitism in clear terms which clearly had his eminence in mind: "the Holy Archdiocese of America condemns any such language, and expresses its sadness that these hurtful words should have been spoken at all. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America considers the remarks to be gravely offensive and totally unacceptable."[note 3] (See also Eastern Orthodoxy and Judaism.) In response to the ensuing hysteria and false accusations, which included "holocaust denier," the Metropolitan released a statement of clarification. [note 4]

See also

Notes

↑The letter states, “[Elton John] dared to insult the Incarnate Divine-Human (theandric) Person, the crucified and risen Son of God, attributing to him his personal psychopathological deviation. The Christian community around the world expects that your Majesty will express your judgement on this [utterance] and divest [Elton John] of his honorary title because he has undeservedly insulted the highest figure for Christians throughout the world”. (Voices from Russia. Saturday, 6 March, 2010)